Need to fix the front door lock of my '16 Touring

[rainer]

Last week I found out why my front door randomly opens during driving my Lizzy, so this is another work over winter.

The spring inside the door lock mechanism must be either weak or broken, therefore the door easily opens when driving over a bump or when it is a little bit pushed from inner side.

I compared with rear (perfectly working) door locks and found out that the hand lever of front door has free play of at 1/2" - 3/4" on its tip before I feel any resistance caused by the spring, while the rear locks have no free play. Applying a little pressure to the lever in closing direction perfectly keeps the door closed. -> Definitely the spring, nothing else.

Sadly getting this lock mechanism out requires partial removal of inner door coverage to give access to one or two hidden bolts. The coverage is already in a little worse condition along its borders, but it is original, so I will wait for the ordered miniature nail puller tools. They will make it easier to get the coverage lifted without further damages. This is for sure no reason for replacing the entire door lock mechanism and can be fixed.

Can somebody show and/or tell me what kind of spring is used inside the door lock mechanism, please?
Is it a helical pushing or pulling spring? Or is it a flat spring (being bent by the lever)? Pictures will be very helpful to me.

[John kuehn]

If and when you can get the door lock off the door they can be taken apart to be repaired. I took mine apart on my car and found the almost duplicate spring at Ace hardware. They sell the springs in different lengths so may have to cut to fit. Maybe someone else knows if there is a supplier for the springs. The springs in my door locks were coil springs. What you put in it may not be exactly as yours but the ones Ace hardware had worked. Hope this helps.

[rainer]

Thank you.

Is this a spiral shaped spring generating pressure, or ...
is this a spiral shaped spring generating a pulling force ?

[Nv Bob]

Watching as I need to do mine on my 14
Left rear door same one but I rather fix mine so looking for the info
Or is repo one made in Europe decent

[John kuehn]

It’s a spiral push spring. The ones I found at the local Ace hardware were of random lengths so you can cut to fit. If you take yours apart the remains of the spring should be intact enough to use as a guide to fit a new one.

[rainer]

Wonderful, thank you.

Such spring I can order at SALOMON in Vienna. They produce springs for several purposes and also have a stock.

I was frightened that a flat spring would be inside, that would have been a bigger problem because on Monday we start the 4th COVID lockdown (of up to 20 days)

[John kuehn]

Rainer
If you go the Lang’s website that’s found on the suppliers section of this website they have a good photograph of what the 16 Tourings door locks look like. The photograph shows the 3 rectangular tabs that go through the lock to hold it together. They are bradded to hold it together. I used a small chisel to carefully straighten them up so the lock can come apart on my lock. Whichever kind of spring is in it and it’s probably a spiral spring the photograph is helpful to see what needs to be done. Hope this helps and the supplier where you are probably has a spring that’s close to yours. Good luck

[rainer]

Thank you very much.

This door lock doesn't appear to be a real problem. The most problem is getting it out of the door without damaging the inner coverage.

Btw:
My car's inner body coverage looks like some kind of cardboard (similar to material of very old suitcase) covered by some kind of thin textile. The borders are covered by a U-shaped ribbon sewed around them. Front door has a pocket with a snap button on its lid. Everything is black.

The material behind the textile became very warped, the U-shaped ribbon only partially exists, the handbrake lever pushed a hole into the coverage , ... It is only a question of time until they fall apart, but they already reached the status "ugly". --> This is one of the reasons why I am so scared about getting the door lock out.

Are such coverage panels in original look available? What are the original ones made of?